Matt Brown hopes UFC will book Carlos Condit fight for third time

Matt Brown has fought a who’s who at 170 pounds, which is why he was a little surprised with his last fight booking.

Brown (22-16 MMA, 15-10 UFC) was scheduled to face “Dana White’s Contender Series” graduate Miguel Baeza at UFC on ESPN 8 before the promotion was forced to cancel the March 28 event due to growing concerns over the coronavirus outbreak.

Not one to turn down fights, Brown accepted the matchup but admitted the UFC’s choice of opponent was somewhat unexpected given his level of experience.

“Yeah, I was a little surprised,” Brown told MMA Junkie. “I was a little thrown off by it. I haven’t been offered a young up-and-comer like that for a long time. I’ve fought veterans and top-10 guys so, yeah, it threw me off a little bit. But I’ve never turned down a fight (and) wasn’t about to, so you just gotta do what you gotta do.”

Uncertain of his next move, Brown said he’d love to fight former interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit next. The pair have been booked to face off twice before – once in 2013 and again in 2018 – but Brown was forced out of both matchups due to injury.

“Oh, absolutely,” he said. “I mean, me and Carlos, we’ve been on this path, these parallel paths and just, for whatever reason, things have happened every time, and (we’ve) not got to fight each other. So, yeah, I think that would be a great fight for the fans, too. I think all the fans would love to see that. I just don’t know where he’s at in his career. I know he’s had a lot of health issues lately, so who knows?”

Currently on an eight-fight contract with the UFC, Brown returned after a two-year layoff last December to score a second-round knockout over Ben Saunders at UFC 245.

There are plenty of exciting fight permutations for the always game Brown, including matchups that he’d love an opportunity to run back. But he certainly won’t beg for them.

“Well, I guess specifically ‘Cowboy,’ because he knocked me out, and that’s the only time I’ve ever been knocked out,” Brown said. “I don’t like getting knocked out. I’d like to knock him out. I think I could have had a better performance against Demian Maia. I don’t know if he’s at the point in his career where he would do a rematch, and I wouldn’t mind going back against (Robbie) Lawler again, too. I thought I won that fight the first time, and I think that we put on a hell of a fight, a hell of a show, and I just think that, matchup-wise, it makes sense.

“But again, I’m not that guy to go begging for rematches. You get your 15 minutes, and that’s your chance. That’s the way this (expletive) works, and I hate it when people do that to me. They’re out begging for rematches, and I’m like, ‘Dude, you had your time.’”